On Saturday, the front-running Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-Texas), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), and former
Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina all slammed Obama for not
going far enough to curb the influence and strength of ISIS, the
extremist group that claimed responsibility for the attack.

Republicans were also quick to prescribe their own solutions to
the conflict in the Middle East.

And amid reports that a Syrian migrant was among the bombers, candidates
called for greater border security, escalating strikes
on ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and limiting the number of Syrian
refugees the US admits annually.

Here's how the 2016 candidates are reacting to the Paris attacks:

Real-estate mogul Donald Trump

At a campaign rally in Texas on Saturday, Trump suggested
that Parisians may have been able to limit the damage of the
attack if gun restrictions were relaxed.

“When you look at Paris, you know, the toughest gun laws in the
world, nobody had guns except for the bad guys, nobody,” Trump
said. “Nobody had guns, and they were just shooting them one by
one.”

Trump also said Obama should limit the number of refugees that
the US lets in.

Donald
Trump.REUTERS/Kevin
Kolczynski

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson

Speaking with reporters on Friday in Florida, Carson said that if
he were elected president, he would likely deploy
ground troops to fight ISIS.

Carson also warned of the danger of extremists infiltrating the
ranks of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East.

"If we're going to be bringing 200,000 people over here from that
region — if I were one of the leaders of the global jihadist
movement and I didn't infiltrate that group of people with my
people, that would be almost malpractice," Carson said.

Ben
Carson.AP Photo/Alan
Diaz

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida)

In a video on Saturday, Rubio suggested that the US needed
to take stronger action against ISIS, saying the Paris attacks
represent a "clash of civilizations" between
Western countries and extremists.

"The attacks on Paris are a wake-up call. A wake-up call to the
fact that what we are involved in now is a civilizational
conflict with radical Islam," Rubio said.

"They literally want to overthrow our society and replace it with
their radical, Sunni Islamic view of the future. This
is a clash of civilizations. And either they win or we
win."

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R)

During a radio interview on Friday with Hugh Hewitt, Bush said
the US needs to reevaluate how it looks at ISIS and needs to
coordinate more closely with European allies and share
intelligence.

"I'm not surprised. This is a war being created by Islamic
terrorists. It's not a law-enforcement operation. And the mindset
that, in our country, at least, needs to change to recognize it
for what it is," Bush said. "This is an organized effort to
destroy western civilization."

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina

In a speech on Saturday in Florida, Fiorina railed against Obama,
referencing an interview this week in which Obama said ISIS was
not gaining territorial strength in the Middle East in part
because of US-led air strikes.

"I am angry. Angry that just yesterday morning, hours before
the Paris attacks began and against all the evidence, President
Obama declared ISIS 'contained' and took a victory lap," Fiorina
said, according to a transcript. "They are not a JV team, Mr.
President. They are not contained. They are at our shores and
their measure of victory is the body count."

Fiorina also took a subtle swipe at Trump for his assertion that
he knows more about ISIS than US generals.

"One candidate in this race has said he knows more about ISIS
than our generals. He is wrong and deeply misguided," Fiorina
said.

AP
Photo/John Raoux

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Cruz said Obama's unwillingness to say the US is at war
with "radical Islamic terrorism" underscores the fact that
the US is not doing enough to destroy ISIS.

"As long as we have a commander in chief unwilling even to
utter the words 'radical Islamic terrorism,' we will not have a
concerted effort to defeat these radicals before they continue to
murder more immigrants, whether Europeans, or Israelis, or
Americans," Cruz told Fox News on Saturday.

In the same interview, Cruz suggested the US should only accept
Christian refugees seeking asylum in the US and should resettle
others in Middle Eastern countries.

"It makes no sense whatsoever to for us to be bringing in
refugees who our intelligence cannot determine if they are
terrorists here to kill us or not. Those who are fleeing
persecution should be resettled in the Middle East and majority
Muslim countries," Cruz said. "Now, on the other hand, Christians
who are being targeted for genocide or persecution, Christians
who are being beheaded or crucified, we should be providing safe
haven to them."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)

Huckabee put out a statement on Saturday slamming Obama's
handling of crises in the Middle East and even taking a slight
dig at the French government.

"We are clearly not dealing with leashed animals or with a JV
team. We’re dealing with a threat to Western civilization,"
Huckabee said. "During the debate last week, I stated that we
should not admit those claiming to be Syrian refugees and was
condemned by the left for that position. I was right and the
events in Paris affirm that. Even the far left and politically
correct government of France has closed its borders."

Huckabee's statement also called for the immediate end to the
Iranian nuclear deal and the establishment of a NATO-led
coalition to "aggressively destroy" ISIS.

REUTERS/Brian C. Frank

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania)

Speaking in Florida, Santorum called for an escalated bombing
campaign against ISIS, saying the extremist group is "fighting
the United States and winning."

"You saw what happens when you toy with a tiger, and ISIS is a
tiger. They're serious. They want to win. They're serious about
what they want to accomplish, we're not," Santorum said. "And so
we're sitting around nibbling at them, that gives them the
opportunity to be able to claim legitimacy. Why? Because they're
fighting the United States and they're winning."

Santorum also took a shot at Rubio, attempting to equate Rubio's
youth with Obama's.

"Do we need another young, inexperienced president to come into
office at a time when the world is on fire?" he said.